


Cat Catcher

by blehgah



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Other, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-23
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-31 19:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3990670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blehgah/pseuds/blehgah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on an au prompt on tumblr: My apartment key apparently also works on your apartment door? (Also I accidentally let your cat out.) Second person to avoid gendered pronouns for Hawke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cat Catcher

It's been a long day. That's been happening a lot lately. The long days, you mean. The kind that sit right between your shoulder blades, a twisted, curled sort of weight that makes you hunch and twitch your head from left to right to coax the kinks out, usually to no avail.

All you want to do now is melt into the worn cushions of your couch and maybe have some cereal. It's already late into the evening, and trying to cook something now will most likely end with your face in a bowl of rice, fast asleep.

You blink away a rush of weariness as you push the front door open with your shoulder. As it swings open, something brushes past your feet. That wakes you up instantly. Your eyes grow wide as you whip around, trying to track down what it is that rushed past your ankles.

It's an orange blur. By the time you've stepped away from the door to check down the hall, it's gone.

Well, no matter. Maybe you've finally hit the point where you're seeing things in this tired state of mind.

Three steps into your apartment and you realize that this... Isn't your apartment. Just as you drop your keys into the bowl by the door, you notice that it's not empty. Well, mostly, at least. There are a few stray bits of cat food left in there. Who puts cat dishes on a table by the door?

As you bend to fish your key-ring out, the door opens again.

"Who the hell are you?"

Your fingers are in the bowl when you look up. You offer the rghtful owner of the apartment a smile. "Uh. Hawke. Nice to meet you."

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Your new acquaintance sure can shout, that's for sure.

Still wearing that sheepish smile, you manage to find your keys. You shake them around to get some brown goop off.

"Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are," you reply. Your arm hovers by your waist, unsure if pocketing your keys is a good idea or not. "Looks like my keys open your door, too. If you want to make sure I wasn't just trying to break into your apartment, I can demonstrate."

For a moment, you lock gazes with your neighbour. He's got intense, brown eyes with circles under them, framed by loose strands of blond hair that just couldn't stay in the ponytail that sits in the middle of your neighbour's head.

Eventually he closes his eyes and runs a hand over the top of his hair. "No, it's alright," he sighs, "I believe you. Unless throwing your keys in my cat's food bowl was a clever ruse to shake me off your trail."

A wry smile curls the corner of your lips. "You've got me. I was trying to play the innocent act all along."

"Speaking of... Where is Ser Pounce-a-lot, anyway?"

Oh, shit. Right. That's what that was. You glance over your neighbour's shoulder and out the open door.

"He, uh. Wouldn't happen to be an outdoor cat, would he?" you ask, finally sucking it up and shoving your fist into your pocket, keys and all.

Your neighbour covers his face. "Good lord."

"I'll help you look."

* * *

An hour and a call to the superintendent later, you find yourself sitting on your neighbour's couch with a bowl of cereal nestled in your palms. He sits next to you, cat in his lap purring the night away. It plays a relaxing rhythm to the beat of your chewing.

"Oh, uh, I realize I haven't introduced myself," he says, the sudden words breaking the quiet in the apartment, "I'm Anders."

"So you do have a name. It's been getting harder and harder to find ways to avoid calling you by the name I didn't know."

Anders shoots you a crooked smile. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was just... a little frazzled."

You gesture with your spoon. "Still polite enough to offer food, and to be honest, that's all I really cared about."

The smile on his face blooms into a full-blown grin. "I can appreciate someone who's got their priorities straight."

"And I can appreciate someone who doesn't inflict bodily harm on someone after they've just broken in their apartment."

"Well... I guess that makes both of us very appreciative people," Anders continues, inclining his head towards you.

You lick the milk off your spoon. Anders follows the movement with his eyes.

"Oh! Are you flirting with me, by any chance?" you ask as you press the back of the spoon against your bottom lip. "Forgive me, I'm not exactly the best at this sort of thing."

Ser Pounce-a-lot jumps out of Anders' grip and settles on the back of the couch by your neck, allowing Anders to hide his face behind his hands for a moment.

"You're having me on," he mumbles. He smooths his hair out of his eyes before facing you again, a warm smile pulling at his mouth. "Yes, Hawke. I'm flirting with you. Let it be known that sketchy apartment complexes can be a blessing every now and then."

"Remind me to have a talk with Gamlen when it isn't midnight, then. Do you have a napkin I can discreetly write my number on and slip into your hand when you aren't looking?"

Chuckling, Anders sticks a hand into his pocket and pulls out his phone. "No, but you can put it here."

With a grin, you set your bowl aside and take his phone. Next to your name, you put a heart emoji to let him know you're really very serious about all this.

When he takes his phone back, you deliberately brush your fingers against his. His free hand rises to rub at a spot at the back of his neck.

"Thanks for the cereal, Anders," you tell him as you move to your feet, "And the handsome company. I'm gonna go before I say anything stupid or incriminating, like how your protectiveness of your cat is overwhelmingly adorable."

That brings a blush to his face. The tabby in question steps down from the back of the couch and onto Anders' lap with delicate steps.

"I'm not..." With a defeated sigh, he begins to pet the cat's back. "Alright, fine. I guess you could say worse things."

"Fortunately for you, I'm going to go before I do indeed say something worse. Like I just said. So now I'm going to head for the door," you continue, hooking a thumb over your shoulder.

You hold his gaze as you walk backwards from the couch to the door. When your back hits the doorknob, you flinch, prompting him to begin to get up. Ser Pounce-a-lot makes a noise of disapproval as you wave your hands as a desperate attempt to get him to sit down.

"It's alright, I'm not trying to make an excuse for you to get up," you assure him, sidestepping to give yourself space to twist the doorknob open, "Because if you did, I don't think I'd be able to stop myself."

"Stop yourself from what?" he asks, still struggling with the cat. His eyes start to grow desperate, darting to you then the cat and back.

"Kissing you, maybe!" the words come out of your mouth in a rush. You step out of the door and begin to close it inch by inch. "But pretend I didn't say that! See you later!"

"Hawke!"

You fling the door open. "Yes?"

Ser Pounce-a-lot makes a disgruntled noise and scrambles off Anders' lap. He stares after his pet for a moment before casting his gaze to the door.

"I don't... think I'd mind that. If you-- kissed me, I mean."

A wide grin splits your face in half. "I'm glad. But I've left already, right, so I don't think I can make good on that one this time. You'll have to wait until I see you again."

Anders' foot slides across the floor, but he doesn't move to stand. "Right. I'm thinking tomorrow for dinner, maybe seven o'clock?"

"I've got work 'til seven-thirty, but I could show up at around eight."

"Just don't let the cat out again," Anders says with a wry smile.

"I'll knock this time, maybe he'll be too intimidated to try an escape attempt again."

"I'm surprised he hasn't already left considering you've been standing in the doorway for the past few minutes. A bit of a jumpy one, that cat."

"I can tell." You begin to pull the door closed again. "Ought to close the door, then. So he doesn't escape."

"Right. Are you sure you don't just want to kiss me now?"

Grinning, you shake your head. Slowly, Anders fades out of your line of sight. You catch a matching grin on his face before the door shuts.


End file.
